What is Heroes & Other Worlds?

Heroes & Other Worlds is a game of adventure inspired by Metagaming's classic Melee/Wizard/TFT system combined with inspiration from the Moldvay edited basic game. The rules are easy to learn and use standard six sided dice. The system is simple, sensible and flexible in the spirit of classic role playing games from the early 80's.Become a Hero, Other Worlds await!

Saturday, August 30, 2014

One of the "extras" in the TTT (Tome of Terrors and Treasures) will have some humanoid races listed with a playable character option! So if you wanted to have Bugbear, Gnoll or Frogling characters you could! Most of these races have no EN, but of course a Referee could always over rule that. So here is a sneak peak at the Frogling:

FROGLING

Encounter:
1d6 Behavior: Territorial (12)

ST:
6-9 Habitat: Jungle, Marshes

DX:
10 AR: -2

IQ:
8 DM: 1d6 (Dagger or Javelin)

EN:
0 SP: Hold Breath

MV:
4/8 leap/ 6 swim TR:Pocket, Pack

Frogling's
are 3'-4' tall amphibious humanoids that resemble frogs. Known to be of gentle spirit and
even temperament, they are respected by all races. They are fond of
gathering knowledge, telling stories and love to sing. The deep croaking
voices of the Frogling do take awhile to appreciate when in song.

Frogling's live in small clan habitations of domed huts made of mud, lily pads and grasses. While this may sound dreary they are actually quiet cheery and green with the constant curves and rounded nature of architecture providing a peaceful and happy feeling. A typical village will be found near rivers, ponds, lakes and
wetlands. In any clan two or three will be wizards with 1d6 spells each, while the rest
will be adventurers.

Frogling prefer only cloth armor or clothing and will rarely wear leather, and never metal armor. They will use shields as these can be discarded if the need to swim or leap arises.

Froglings are fond of wet climates and locations. They will avoid desert areas or dry areas. In such environments where the frogling may dry out it suffers 1d6 ST damage per hour. Salt water is equally unpleasant to froglings and they suffer 1 pt of damage per minute they are exposed (immersed) in salt water.

SPECIAL

Hold
Breath: A frogling can swim underwater and hold its breath a
number of turns equal to 2xST

FROGLING
AS CHARACTERS

Frogling
characters possess the following racial traits as a base.

— ST -2,
DX +2, IQ +0, No EN.

—Natural AR-1

—Medium
size.

—Special:
Hold Breath

—Favored
Class: Adventurer.

Currently (w/o the treasure portion) this beast is 300 pages! HOLY CRAP! There is still a lot of editing and work to do but I wanted to give you a sense of how big this sucker is going to end up being and you can see why this is taking a lot of time! More coffee and back to work...

Friday, August 29, 2014

In 190 BC, the Carthaginian
general Hannibal won a surprise victory against King Eumenes II
of Pergamon. Although vastly outnumbered, Hannibal had an ingenious
strategy. Short on other weapons, Hannibal filled clay pots full of
venomous snakes.

During the proceeding naval
battle, Hannibal's forces fired hundreds of clay pots filled with the poisonous
snakes against Pergamon's navy. Between the snakes and Hannibal's
fighters, his army scored a resounding victory.

Snake Bombs in your game

This seems like the perfect kind of weapon to be used by bandits in a desert/jungle environment. They ambush a caravan by launching snake bombs into the caravan scattering everyone and then picking off distracted guards. Or maybe by weaker (but dexterous) creatures like kobolds and goblins who use them to defend their treasures, forts, or as a disruption tool to scatter and break up a stronger, cohesive opponent.

In general a pot should be considered to contain 1d6+1 poisonous snakes. It can be thrown 1/4 ST in distance (minimum 1) or if launched through some sort of trebuchet/catapult contraption, it would have a minimum distance of 50' and a maximum of 1500'.

If dropping a snake bomb from above it will break upon impact and the snakes attack the next turn after being released from the broken pot.

The goal is not a direct hit on a target, but an indirect shot that hits near targets and "explodes" the pot open sending snakes all over. The snakes will scatter within 1 space of the "explosion" space. They will attack any target in or adjacent to their spot the turn AFTER they have "exploded" out of the jar.

This snake bomb creates a deadly distraction as the foes must shift their attention to the new immediate threat. giving the launchers a chance to run or overwhelm their confused and distracted foes.

How to

To capture a snake and handle it requires a 3/DX roll to catch it w/o being bitten! Failure mean the snake can roll to attack immediately! A character with animal handling skill can apply that skill to this test.

No more than 7 can be put in the same pot and they will survive for 1d6+1 days in the pot.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

After a lot of time flying on business the past few days (finished 3 books while flying!) I have taken time off and plan on 3-4 solid days of uninterrupted work on the monster/treasure book this weekend. With my wife out of town for a few days I should have nothing but hardcore focused writing to fill my days.

She's about 70% done with the cover image and its coming along nicely! I asked and she is not wanting me to post an image yet as I asked for some revisions. Sorry, but I think it should be worth the wait!

So with a smile from the basement, the pale glow of a monitor illuminating the dark, the calming sounds of various baroque composers in the background and a pot of coffee to keep me rolling, the work continues.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Well at Heroes & Other Worlds HQ (besides working on the monster book) I have worked on the Fight or Flight idea some more. Thanks to lots of great input and some play-testing encounters I would like to humbly present a new take on Fight or Flight (morale) rules for your consideration:

Summary of FoF idea:

1)Chance of Fight or Flight is based on the creatures behavior

2)That number is a 3 die test-roll: under or equal means fight/roll over means flight

3)A FoF Test occurs whenever:

A)A member of the creature's side is killed

B)A creature takes a total of 30+ damage in one turn

C)The Referee decides to make one.

Making a test

The creature's behavior gives it the FoF #

Cowardly (7)

Unpredictable (10)

Territorial (13)

Aggressive (16)

Test is made by rolling 3 dice and comparing to the Behavior Number . (This is noted as 3/B#)

Rolling equal to or under the Behavior Number (B#) means the creature will continue to fight

Rolling over the B# means the creature will flee.

Fleeing

A fleeing creature and will move its full movement each turn away from
its foes. If it is cornered or unable to flee:

A Cowardly creature will surrender

For Unpredictable creature roll 1d6: 1-3 it surrenders or 4-6 it fights

Territorial or Aggressive will turn and fight
desperately. It will attack at DX+1 and -1 IQ until it is able
to flee or is killed.

NOTES

I want to make special note of testing option B) A creature taking 30 pts of damage in one turn.

That means a coordinated party attack against a major high ST foe (Dragon, Frost Giant, etc.) So rather than figuring ST levels and rolling, I used a massive damage done to influence the creature FoF roll for major creatures.

CHART ALTERNATE OPTION

As an alternative, here is an optional reaction chart. You could roll 2d6 on this chart (rather than test 3/B#) whenever a FoF test is necessary. In this version, when to make a FoF test is the same, but a DRM is applied to the 2d6 roll based on the creature's behavior:

Cowardly +3 DRM

Unpredictable: +1 DRM

Territorial: -1 DRM

Aggressive: -3 DRM

2d6 Roll Reaction
2- 5 Continues fighting, no reaction
6-7 Hesitates, will not engage voluntarily this turn, but otherwise fights normally.
8-9 Hesitates, will not take any attack option this turn.
10-11 Break and run, will try to disengage and/or run off map away from danger.
12+ Surrender - opponent drops to knees, drops weapons and tries to surrender.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Thanks to all the great feedback, I thought I would post the revised shark entry so you can see how a multi-range creature might read. Feel free to let me know if things look off or need changing.

SHARK

Encounter:
1d6 Behavior: Aggressive

ST:
14-45 Habitat: Water

DX:
10 AR: -2

IQ:
5 DM: 2d6-4d6 (Bite)

EN:
0 SP: Blindsense, Keen Scent

MV:
7-9 swim TR: None

These
carnivorous fish are aggressive and liable to make unprovoked attacks
against anything that approaches them. Smaller sharks are from 5 to 8
feet long (ST14-20/ 2d6 bite) and not usually dangerous to creatures
other than their prey. Large sharks can reach around 15 feet in
length and are a serious threat (ST 21-35/3d6 bite). Huge sharks are
true monsters, like great whites, that can exceed 20 feet in length
(ST36-45/4d6 bite). Sharks circle and observe potential prey, then
dart in and bite with their powerful jaws.

SPECIAL

Blindsense:A shark can locate creatures underwater within a 30-foot
radius. This ability works only when the shark is underwater.

Keen
Scent: A shark can notice creatures by scent in a
180-foot radius and detect blood in the water at ranges of up to a
mile.

Friday, August 8, 2014

I had a request--"can you give us a sneak peek of what's to come in the monster book?" Below is a look at the current proposed creature entry format. If you have comments/concerns or suggestions feel free to let me know!

CLOAKER

No:
1d6 Behavior: Cowardly

ST:
35-48 Habitat: Underground

DX:
11 AR: -1

IQ:
6 DM:1d6+5 (claws), 1d6 (tail)

EN:
0 SP: Engulf

MV:
2/5 fly TR: None

When
resting or lying in wait, these creatures are almost impossible to
distinguish from common black cloaks (the cloaker’s ivory claws
look very much like bone clasps). Only when it unfurls does the
horrific nature of the creature become apparent. A
cloaker has a wingspan of about 8 feet. It weighs about 100 pounds.

COMBAT

Cloakers
usually lie still, watching and listening for prey. If facing a
single opponent, a Cloaker uses its engulf attack. Against multiple
foes, it lashes with its tail, then engulfs a survivor. Multiple
Cloakers usually split up, leaving one or two behind to use special
abilities while the rest make melee attacks.

SP:
Engulf: A Cloaker can try to wrap a Human
sized or smaller creature in its body as an action. The Cloaker
attempts a grapple.. If it wins the grapple test, it establishes a
hold and bites the engulfed victim with a DX+4 bonus on its attack
roll. It can still use its whip-like tail to strike at other adjacent
targets. Attacks that hit an engulfing Cloaker deal half their damage
to the monster and half to the trapped victim. Cloaked victim's AR
applies to damage done while engulfed.

Quick note on Fight or Flight options. I really appreciate all the great feedback! I have not been responding as I have been play testing various options. So do not take silence as a lack of interest, it just means I am trying to play through it all to see what works!

About Me

Nothing
in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will
not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not;
the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will
solve the problems of the human race."John Calvin Coolidge